Election Season Kicks Off with Filing Week
What some people call “the silly season” officially begins Monday when candidates for political office begin filing to run in the 2014 election.
Here in Kitsap County, a few races are bound to attract a lot of attention — and money.
The highest-profile race in the county will be for the county commissioner seat representing Central Kitsap that was vacated by Josh Brown and filled since January by Linda Streissguth, a former PSE community engagement manager.
Streissguth, a Democrat, will run for the job. County party officials from both parties agree she has a tough challenger in Republican Ed Wolfe, a Bremerton attorney who also worked in the U.S. State Department. The other wrinkle in the race could be the presence of former Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman.
“I’ll make an announcement on Monday,” Bozeman said on Friday when asked whether he will run as an independent. Bozeman sought the nomination from the county Democratic Party in December and failed to make the final cut of three. Since then he has been considering making a run without party backing.
Some candidates will begin filing into county election offices or the Secretary of State’s office on Monday, but if last year is an indicator they will be a minority. Candidates can now file online. Dolores Gilmore, Kitsap County Elections manager, said last year was the first year online filing was available, and attracted close to 70 percent of the candidates. She said she expects a handful a handful of candidates to come into the office first thing Monday morning, but after that it will mostly be the online crowd filing to run.
Chris Tibbs, chairman of the Kitsap County Republican Party, said his party has been working to fill up the slate from top to bottom. There might be some names added he is not aware of.
“It’s politics, so there’s always surprises,” he said. “Oftentimes I’m as surprised as the next guy.”
The party’s biggest focus will be the commissioner race, Tibbs said.
“We need to bring balance to the county commission. I think we can agree one-party rule, whether it be Republican or Democrat, doesn’t benefit the system,” Tibbs said.
Tibbs said Wolfe is the most qualified commissioner candidate the county has seen in years.
Katherine Woods, chairwoman of the Kitsap County Democratic Central Committee, said the commissioner race will be competitive.
“It’s going to be one of the tougher races this year, but we’re excited to take it on,” she said.
Local legislative races could also provide some intrigue, she added.
“With Rodney Tom dropping out a lot of the focus has shifted to taking out Tim Sheldon in the 35th,” Woods said.
Sheldon and Tom, both Democrats, joined forces with Senate Republicans this session to form the Majority Coalition Caucus, essentially making Republicans the majority party in the Senate chamber. Sheldon had a long history of voting with Republicans on party-line issues. This year he will at least face challenges for his seat from Kitsap music business owner Irene Bowling, a Democrat, and Belfair Republican Travis Couture.
Sheldon’s stature with Republicans was obvious this week when Republican state Sen. Jan Angel of Port Orchard endorsed him.
That race, Woods and Tibbs agreed, has the potential to draw lots of campaign money, particularly from outsiders. But no one expects it to come close to the money spent in the race between Angel and Democrat Nathan Schlicher last year for the 26th District state Senate seat. That was the only contested legislative race in the state in 2013. Sheldon, Bowling and Couture will have company.
Both parties say they’ll have a full slate of candidates in legislative races. Schlicher announced he will run against Jesse Young for the House seat Young was appointed to, replacing Angel after she knocked Schlicher out of the Senate.
Other top county jobs: sheriff, auditor and assessor, will be up for grabs, with thee incumbents retiring.
Gilmore will be running for the auditor job and will not handle ballots during this year’s elections. So far no one has filed campaign documents with the state Public Disclosure Commission indicating an intention to run against Gilmore.
Candidates have had the option since April 28 to mail in their candidate filings. As of Friday four precinct committee officers had, a pretty consistent number compared with years past, Gilmore said.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor will face a challenge for his seat from fellow Gig Harbor resident Marty McClendon, a Republican who challenged Kilmer in 2010 when Kilmer was a state senator.
FILING WEEK
Online filing begins at 9 a.m. on May 12 and is available until 4 p.m. on May 16.
Candidates may also file in person at the Kitsap County Auditor-Elections Division Office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 12-16.
The link for online candidate filing will be available atwww.kitsapgov.com.
This year’s election includes federal, state and local offices. A complete list of offices open for filing with the appropriate filing office and fees is available at:http://www.kitsapgov.com/aud/elections.htm
Candidates may also submit their filings by mail. All filing fees are due by the close of filing, 5 p.m., May 16, and are nonrefundable. The deadline to withdraw is 5 p.m., May 19.